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 Books and Reviews

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Publication

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 - Symbols of Life. Mambo Press, Zimbabwe 1982

 - Symbols of  Death. Mambo Press, Zimbabwe 1987

 - Karanga Mythology. Mambo Press, Zimbabwe 1989

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- Das Bewusstsein. Die Entwurzelung des Unbewussten in der Bewusstseinsanalyse     einer "primitiven" Ethnie. Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag, Baden-Baden 2020

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- In der Falle des Seins. Die Symbolwelt des Menschen und der Schöpfung. 

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- Vom Leben und Sterben des Bewusstseins. Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag,       Baden-Baden 2016

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- Die zweigeteilte Schöpfung. Ein Höhenflug in die Quantenwelt des Bewusstseins
  und der Schöpfung. Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag. Baden-Baden 2022

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- Die drei Universen des Menschen. Sie Symbolik der "Vermählung" des
   Bewusstseins mit der Schöpfung. Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag. Baden-Baden
   2021

 

- Symbole des Lebens. Atlantis Verlag, Zürich, Freiburg i.Br. 1976

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- Schwarz und Weiß. Fluch oder Segen?  Liebig-Verlag, Frauenfeld 2007

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- Armut und Reichtum des Lebens. Das Spinngewebe der Symbolik einer 
   bewusstseinsanalytischen Autobiographie. Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag. 
   Baden-Baden 2021

 

Articles

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- Vom Un-sinn des Unbewussten. Schweiz. Ärztezeitung. Band 68, 1987, Heft 21, 
  S.962-966

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- “Traditionelle“ Medizin. Zeitschrift der österreichischen Forschungsstiftung für 
     Entwicklungshilfe. 1977/II,   S.12-19

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- Mutimwi – Symbol and Reality. NADA 1969, Nr.1. S.63-66

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- Realität und Symbolik eines Mordes nach den Darstellungen der Karanga
  (Simbabwe). Zeitschrift für Ethnologie. Band 105, Heft 1 u. 2., Berlin 1980, S.125-133

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- Ein Schöpfungsmythos in der Deutung der Karanga (Zimbabwe). Anthropos. Band
  71, 1976, S.33-45

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- Symbolik der Schlange im traditionellen Mwari-Kult der Karanga. Ethnologische
  Zeitschrift Zürich. II, 1973, S.7-19 
 

 

​Reviews excerpts

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The reviews refer to the ethnological studies in English, which were published synoptically in the German study Das Bewusstsein (International scientific publishers. Baden-Baden 2020). 

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AKH Weinrich writes in “Africa, Journal of the International African Institute” Vol.48,    No.4, 1978  (Symbols of Life).

"The result [...] is a book for which we have waited for a long time. ... In none of the many books published so far on Rhodesia has such a deep insight into African thinking been achieved." ...... " ... The book is to be highly recommended to all who work among the Karanga and other Shona speaking people in Rhodesia, and beyond that to all who are interested in the way an African people experiences and interprets its world. It will also be useful to those working currently on the theme: 'Is there a specific Bantu Philosophy?"

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Professor Dr. H. Ruppert (Wuppertal) writes in: Wissenschaftlichen Literaturanzeiger, 2/1977 about "Symbols of Life"

… The European reader can guess from this interesting, sensitive study abundance, sophistication and wealth  original cultural achievements of an African people.

 

EKZ-Information service: Symbols of Life

"The life of an African people is presented in its manifold symbolic terms and references. A self-interpretation and representation of African myths, rites, and African thought hitherto unknown in this depth and authenticity.“

B / BuB: Schwab

 

Bild der Wissenschaft, Stuttgart 9/1976, Ethnology

“The author ... impressively describes the life of the Karanga. ..The nicely structured book knows how to irritate some readers: "The penis is the heart of the man", "Breast milk treatment of the genital organs", or "The blind uterus".

Whether an interpretation of symbols, rituals or myths can take place independently of the interpreter - Aschwanden undertakes this attempt - may remain open here, in any case the study, which is pleasant to read, is worth thinking about and makes it so recommendable. "

 

MUNDUS, A Quarterly Review of German Research Contribution on Asia, Africa and Latin America ”3, Vj, 1989. Symbols of Death. An Analysis of the Consciousness of the Karanga

".. the subtitle can lead one to underestimate the work's contents, for it goes far beyond an analysis concentrating solely on one tribe  to universally human issues. He adheres to the explanations given by his informants and does not pervert their view of the world by interpretatively clapping on inadequate Western patterns of thought. In this respect Dr. Aschwanden's studies ought to have an exemplary effect."

Dr. Johanna Wagner

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Deutsches Ärzteblatt. Issue 46, 11.11.1976; "Symbols of Life"

“The special value of the presentation lies in the fact that local nurses participated in the certainly laborious collection of material. In this way, too one-sided cultural perspective interpretation was avoided and errors that could arise as a result of linguistic misunderstandings were largely eliminated. In addition, the book can also be understood as a contribution to development aid, which is supported by the effort to accept the peculiarities of another people and to orient one's own actions on them. It will be interesting to see the sequel that has been announced  should be made under the title "Symbols of Death". "
K. Reckel

 

Walter Hirschsprung in “Anthropological Society in Vienna”, Vol. CVII, 1977

There is no doubt that the present representations by the doctor and his nurses may at times be a thorn in the side of theoretic anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and psychoanalysts of the western style, but they offer the ethnologist so many suggestions that he will find many ambiguities in the use of religious-historical terms and gladly accepts unnecessary repetitions. Walter Hirschsprung

 

Suzanne Frayser, University College, University of Denver, reviewed in "American Anthropologist" (90, 1981) "Symbols of Life"

"Aschwanden takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the oral tradition of the Karanga. ... The reader travels through a context thick with symbols. In summing up the Karanga's orientation, Aschwanden aptly quotes from Jung: “The least of things with a meaning is more worth in life than the greatest of things without it.” This work is notable for its truly cultural approach. … Aschwanden began his investigation when he realized that a “pragmatic western” approach to the treatment of his African patients was limited, misunderstood, and sometimes inefficient. ... This book is appropriate for upper-level undergraduates, and researchers. ... At times, the prose is dense and repetitive. However, perseverance in understanding the material is well worth the effort, for the reader becomes immersed in a different reality. " 

 

Professor Dr. O. F. Raum in “MUNDUS, A Quarterly Review of German Research Contribution on Asia, Africa and Latin America” Volume XIV, 1978, Number 1

"The author is sensitive to the dynamics of the symbolic process. He shows that in some instances signs are converted into symbols and vice versa, and that symbols have different meanings in varying contexts. He repeatedly criticizes the psychoanalytical symbol theory of S. Freud and CG Jung because it posits the unconscious nature of the symbol, whereas the Karanga wise men are fully aware of the implication of the symbols of their culture. He also corrects certain reports of ethnographers (C. Bullock, JG. Roberts) on Karanga totemism but quotes approvingly the writings of JF. Holleman, an authority on Shona law. The author should be praised for his effort. His report is a valuable addition to the growing body of collections of indigenous African world views such as of the West African Dogon, of the East African Chagga and of South African Zulu. "

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Archives Suisses d'anthropologie générale Genève

“.... It is gratifying to see a medicin showing  a broad open-mindedness with regard to the non-rational which reigns in the human group where he was called to practice his science and his art. His recourse to the bibliography enabled him to compare his views with those of the specialists. ”M.- RS

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